Author of deceit says he loved Te’o

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Creation of phony woman was ‘twisted’ but aimed to aid player

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo fell in love with Manti Te’o and said all his energy went into pretending to be the woman the Notre Dame linebacker came to know as Lennay Kekua.

Tuiasosopo, the 22-year-old mastermind of the elaborate hoax that embarrassed Te’o and left him looking gullible, spoke publicly for the first time in an interview with Dr. Phil McGraw for the Dr. Phil Show, the first part of which aired Thursday.

Tuiasosopo said Te’o knew nothing of the scam and doesn’t believe he ever suspected Kekua was fake.

“He had no involvement,” Tuiasosopo said.

Tuiasosopo said he built the online persona of Kekua, a nonexistent woman with whom Te’o said he fell in love despite never meeting in person. Tuiasosopo then killed off the character last September.

“I pretty much had this escape of Lennay, and this was where my heart had pretty much invested, not just time, but all of my energy went into this,” Tuiasosopo said.

He said he felt Kekua was a part of him, and grew feelings and emotions for Te’o that he could not control. He acknowledged that the hoax was cruel but said it was never intended as a joke and that he got no financial gain from it.

“As twisted and confusing as it may be, yeah, I cared for [Te’o],” he said. “I did all that I could to help this person become a better person, even though I wasn’t getting nothing out of it.”

When the ruse was reported Jan. 16 by Deadspin.com, the report raised the questions about whether Te’o was in on it. The story of how Te’o played through pain after learning about the deaths of his girlfriend and grandmother on the same day led to an outpouring of support from Notre Dame fans. It became the backdrop to the Fighting Irish’s undefeated regular season and run to the BCS championship, where they lost to Alabama.

Te’o won seven national awards for his play and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.